What are my chances in getting in (Rowing Recruit)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi everyone! So I have a question. Princeton has kinda become my dream school. I love the campus and the reputation i have heard. So my question is, what are my chances in getting into Princeton. I do plan on trying to get recruited to row for the Men’s Heavyweight Team, which I assume should be a plus factor.

Year: Sophomore (I know it’s a little early but I want to know if I have what it takes)

Type of School: Private, one of the top private schools on the East Coast/Philadelphia Metro/Top 50-100 Private schools in the US (Does Princeton take into account that I’m going to one of the most competitive high schools in the country? I’ve heard yes and that my grade at a public school would be equivalent to like a 4.5)

Grades: 3.7 (Freshman), Currently 3.85 (sophomore) I plan on fishing with a 3.9+ if everything goes according to planned

Course Load: English II, Spanish III, Pre-Calc Honors (school does not offer AP and I am a math level ahead of my grade), Modern World History, Chemistry

Next year I plan on taking, English III, Spanish IV, Calculus Honors, US History Honors, Biology Honors, and possibly Micro or Macro economics (both honors) I also plan to take the SAT II (Math I, US History, Biology, and whatever else I can qualify for)

PSAT: 1180 (600 reading & writing, 580 math) 91% percentile Nationally, I took this test without any prep. I do plan on doing SAT prep (hopefully 2200+ on SAT)

Sports: Rowing/Crew (will be captain senior year) Almost went to Head of the Charles as a sophomore but did not go because politics between parents and coaches has a significant influence, Basketball (freshman year)

I plan on having my 2k down to 6:40 by end of sophomore year
25 min: 1:52.4
5k: 1:51.4
500 m: 1:35.7
Rowing: 4th place at Philadelphia City Nationals (Freshman Quad), 12th at Nationals (Quad), 15th at Head of the Schuylkill (M-Junior Double)

Extracurriculars: DECA, Mock Trial (Team II), Tour Guides (selected by the Admissions directors), Diversity (one of the main leaders in club), Service Board (selected group of students that organize service projects in school/community), Politics Club (leader), The Quadrangle Club (A service club I’m starting where a few students go to a local assisted living care center and interact with people living there), Writer for our school newspaper, active member in my Church’s youth group

Leadership: Diversity (main club leader, organized annual Diversity retreat as well as currently planning the middle school and school wide Diversity day), Service Board (highly selective group of students), Tour Guides (very selective), Leader of Quadrangle Club, I run the Toys for Tots drive each year (heavily involved in charity),

Notable Accomplishments: SDLC (Student Diversity Leadership Conference) - 6 students out of 400+ in school selected to go to represent their school. I was selected freshman year and will be going again my junior year (2016-2017) to help plan our school wide diversity retreat), Was selected to speak to board of Trustees on how my school has taught me character

Job: I currently work at a local store/deli during the summer, holidays, and weekends (part time job)

Based off of everything listed above, what are my chances in making it through the admissions process? I do plan on getting recruited to row at Princeton. I have been trying to be well rounded as a student and community member.

Thanks so much!

2

Here are the basics for recruited athletes in most sports: All SAT sections and SAT Subject Tests scores should be 700+. Unweighted GPA should be 3.8+, and the applicant should be taking a very rigorous courseload.

If you can meet these standards and the coach is willing to support you, your other ECs, leadership positions, etc. won’t matter.

3

Being a recruit with your mindset will give you a very, very good chance at acceptance. I know a couple people recruited for crew that were told, “Take the SAT/ACT, score at least a 33/2200, and you’ll be set.”

However, if you aren’t recruited, the path will be significantly more difficult. It’s hard to chance you now because you have no official scores, but you are definitely on the right path. Good luck!

4

The more you try to craft the perfect resume to apply to a certain college, the less likely you are to get into it. That is not what they are looking for. They are looking for students who are so engaged in what they pursue and so competent that they have a slew of achievements to discuss at the point they are ready to apply to college. So my advice would be to get off this site and to focus on being terrific at what you are involved in. Then, when it comes to applying to college you will have no regrets. How many students have said " I spent the last 3 years doing everything I could to get into X but didn’t". Don’t be one of those. Try to think of your classes as critical to building the kind of adult you want to be. Use the material you learn. Become involved in activities you think are meaningful.

5

Also read Chris Peterson’s blog called Applying Sideways. It pertains to MIT but it is cited on CC in response to inquires like yours about loads of different schools. It won’t get you into Princeton. But if you follow his advice you will look back at your high school years as good ones. And, you may still get into Princeton.

http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/applying_sideways

6

Thanks guys. Your comments are very helpful!

7

I echo the sentiments of @sherpa. His comments are right on spot. Athletic recruiting for Ivy coaches are based purely upon AI and how good of an athlete you are. They will take someone with better erg scores than you, as long as they can get the student past admissions. So the sum of your academic ability + athletic ability is what matters the most.

Having said all of this, a large majority of high school athletes never make to the level of being recruitable for Ivy teams. So have a backup plan in place in case the coach is not interested. The ECs and other things you are doing are good for a backup, but as you probably already know admission in the general pool it is much more difficult to stand out.

8

Your message is a good plan for you to follow - or really, a set of goals to try to reach. It is not, however, useful to you to ask if a diverse mix of past accomplishments and future aspirations will get you in to you dream school. Achieve your goals - or exceed some of them - then see where you stand.

Skimming over the key facts, or presenting some facts in an excessively flattering light, also will not yield an honest picture. You don’t mention your current 2k, but you state your goal for sophomore year; you must know even that is not the relevant number or time period. Princeton (and its peer schools) will talk to you when you break 6:30, even if that is at the end of your sophomore year, but they will wait to see how you develop; they will pursue you when you get close to 6:20, or break it. So if you want to be recruited to row, make that your goal.

As for your other times now, they also do not matter; what matters is how much faster you will be a year (and 18 months) from now. We can’t know how quickly you are development, or your potential, especially without your height and weight - and how much more you expect to grow. You don’t provide this information.

Nevertheless, Princeton does encourage walk-ons, so if you simply want rowing to be plus factor in your application, 6:30 may well suffice - though how much it will help you, who knows. But whether as a walk-on or a recruit, let me give you one word of advice: you come across badly when you write that “I will be captain”. Maybe you’re the best rower in your grade - now - but it still sounds boastful, and this is a sport that does not reward that attitude. As someone else wrote in another thread, there are enough good rowers out there that if the coach doesn’t think your personality will be a positive for the team, he will recruit someone else.

Finally, it looks like you seriously mis-stated your HOSR results. Perhaps it was a typo? Be very careful not to do that when communicating with coaches.